Container cover fastener



March 3, 1936. .1. J. MILLER CONTAINER COVER FASTENER Filed 001;. 6. 1954 Patented Mar. 3, 1936 "CONTAINER. COVER FASTENEB.

Julius J. Miller, St. Joseph, Mich.

Application October 6,

7 Claims.

This invention relates to wirebound boxes or crates, and more particularly to crates or boxes of this kind having loops formed on the ends of the binding wires, forming interlocking Wire fasteners for holding the cover in place.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to providea novel and improved construction andarrangementwhereby the loops on the end portions of the binding wires are provided in a manner to obviate the necessity of inserting the ends of the wire in the veneer or other material of the box or crate, in order to prevent injury to the hands, and whereby the loops are formed a distance back from the edge of the cover, and from the edge of the side wall of the box or crate, so that a portion of each wire extends tightly around the edge of the cover, or the edge of the side wall, whereby a tight lap corner joint may be effectively provided for the 20 corner of the box, where the veneer of the cover overlaps the edge of the side wall, in a box or crate of this general character.

Another object is to obviate the necessity of using certain things heretofore considered nec-. essary on wirebound box cover fasteners of this general character.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efiiciency and the desirability of a wire cover fastener of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective of a wirebound box pro- Vided with wire cover fasteners embodying the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective, on a larger scale, of one of said fasteners, showing adjacent portions of the box.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the corner portion of the box shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section on line 4-4 in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 3, showing the cover slightly raised, and showing the loops of the fastener disengaged.

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing a slightly different method of twisting the wire.

As thus illustrated, the box or crate shown in Fig. 1 has the usual cleats I secured to the four walls of the box. The cover 2, it will be seen, overlaps the upper edge of the front side wall 3, in a manner common in boxes of this kind.

1934, Serial No. 747,207 (01. 2177-12) The three binding wires 4, 5 and 6 are stapled to the four walls of the blank from which the box is made, in the usual manner, and provided with extending end portions, when the blank is made. It will be seen that the end portions of the wires 4 and 6 are securedto the inner edges of the cleats l by staples 1, so that the ends of the wires are brought within the cross sectional profile of the box, and are thus out of the way where they will not injure the hands of workers.

It will also be seenthat the loops thus formed on theends ofthe wires are twisted a distance, as by twisting the loop on the cover at 8, and by twisting the loop on the side wall at 9, in the manner shown more clearly in Fig. 5 of the drawing. In this way, portions l0 and II of the wire are drawn tightly around the edges of the cover and the side wall, and the two loops l2 and I3 thus formed are then bent into the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5 of the drawing, preparatory to fastening the cover in place. When the cover 2 is closed against the upper edge of the side wall 3, the loop I3 is inserted upwardly through the loop [2, and the loop I3 is then bent down, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, forming a hook engaging the loop l2, and pulling the latter tightly downward against the edge of the cover.

Similarly, the ends of the wire 5 are formed with loops I 4 and I5, by twisting the loops at 5 and I1, so that the wire is drawn tightly around the edges of the cover and side wall in the manner shown. The loops l4 and I5 are interlocked in a similar manner, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing, when the cover is closed.

As shown in Fig. 6 of the drawing, the loop is formed by coiling each wire around the other, at I8, as distinguished from the previously described twist, in which latter only one wire is coiled around the other.

By thus forming the loops a distance back from the edges of the cover and side wall, and pulling the wires taut around the edges of the cover and side wall, it is found that a satisfactory lap joint is formed between the edge portion of the cover and the edge of the side wall, in the manner shown, which is desirable in a box having lap joints at each of the four corners thereof, and it may be desirable in a box having merely a lapped corner for the edges of the cover and side wall, for the invention is not limited to boxes or crates having any particular number of lapped corners. In any event, with the construction shown and described, which is illustrative of the invention, wire cover fasteners are provided that are so formed that they obviate the necessity of inserting the ends of the wire in the veneer or wood of the cover and side wall, in order to protect the hands'of Workers, and in such a manner that a tight lapped corner is provided between the edge of the cover and the edge of the side wall, and while this is especially desirable in tight boxes having lapped corners, at all four corners of the box, it may be used in other types of boxes or crates.

While the stapling of the wires 4, 5, and 6 to the four sections of the blank, as previously mentioned, is something that is well known and well understood, it may be pointed out that thedrawing shows these staples at l9 in some of the views.

What I claim as my invention is: v 1. In a wirebound box or crate of that construction in which the cover desirably overlaps the upper edge of the front side wall thereof, forming a lapped corner for the box, loops formed on the opposite ends of a binding wire, by anchor ing the ends of the wire under the cover and in rear of the side wall, in a manner to prevent the ends from injuring the hands of workers, and a twist formed in each loop a distance back from the edge of the cover, and from the edge of the side wall, causing portions of the wire to extend tightly around the edge of the cover and the edge of the side wall, with the end portion of the loop on the side wall adapted to be inserted upwardly through the end portion of the loop on the cover, so that the loop on the side wall may be bent downward to form a hook holding the loop 'on 2,032,374 V the cover bent downwardly a distance below the edge of the cover.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, at least one of said side wires having its'ends stapled to the inner edges of external end cleats of the box or crate.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, at least one wire having its ends stapled to the inner surface of the cover and front side wall of the box or crate, within the box. v

4. A structure as specified in claim 1, the twist tions of the loop coiled around the other, vertically to top or side surface of the box, each twist being located a distance from said corner of the box.

5. A structure as specified in claim 1, the twist of each loop comprising each of the two side portions of the loop coiled around the other, each twist being located a distance from said corner of the box.

- 6. A structure as specified in claim 1, the twist of each loop comprising one side portion of the wire coiled around the other, vertically to top or side surface of the box. I

7. In a cover fastener for wirebound boxes, loops forming interengaging portions formed on the opposite end portions of a binding wire, with other portions of the same wire extending tightly aroundeach of the two lapping edges of the cover and the front side wall, when said inter engaging portions are in engagement with each other to hold the cover closed.

JULIUS J. MILLER.

' of each loop comprising each of the two side por- 

